If you’ve ever gone for a walk in the park, there’s a chance that you’ve stumbled on a duck pond.
As adorable as these aquatic birds are, we recommend you think twice before you feed bread to ducks.
Ducks, pigeons, geese, and other birds that share habitats with humans often get remarkably tame, and they learn to associate soft-hearted people with food.
It’s not at all uncommon to walk up to the edge of a duck pond and immediately get accosted by a chorus of demanding quacks asking for food.
To their credit, ducks are pretty good about returning the favor. Still, they’re as bad as dogs when it comes to begging!
You might be tempted to give in and feed them, but before you do, there are a few things everyone needs to know about acceptable ducky diets.
Top of the list? Bread is off limits.
Scroll through below to learn why you shouldn’t feed bread to ducks, and what to give them instead!
If you go to just about any park in the country, you’re likely to find a duck pond or two!
Ducks and humans share a lot of the same space, so it’s not too surprising that these crafty creatures have figured out how to work the system.
Most ducks have absolutely zero fear of people. It’s a quality they share with other city birds like pigeons, geese, and swans.
In fact, instead of fleeing when they see a human, they’re far more likely to walk right up and start loudly quacking in the hopes of being fed.
Most people, when faced with a loud and adorable duck, are happy to oblige.
The thing is, you have to be careful what you feed a duck.
Bread, for instance, is a major no-no.
If you happen to have an extra roll leftover from lunch, it might be tempting to offer it up to the local ducks.
Lots of people even bring sacks of day-old bread to the pond with their kids to give the ducks a special treat.
It seems like a fun and harmless way to spend the day, but all those carbs are no good for our feathered friends.
In fact, stale bread can really mess up a duck’s health, because it’s a lot of highly processed carbohydrates and not much nutritional value.
Ducks who live in high-traffic parks with ponds might get fed so much bread, by so many passing families and visitors, that they eat almost nothing else.
They stop foraging for their own food, because they know people will bring them something tasty.
Unfortunately, this is the duck equivalent of eating only potato chips. (By the way, ducks also shouldn’t eat potato chips — or popcorn, crackers, and other human snack foods.)
Bread might taste good to them, but it has no nutritional value other than the quick energy of carbs.
If they consume a diet of only bread and other simple carbs, they’ll be vulnerable to illness and malnutrition.
Even worse, bread can be really dangerous for baby ducklings.
Ducklings are even more vulnerable to malnutrition than their parents, so a diet heavy in bread endangers their lives.
What’s more, baby ducks who get fed on bread all the time never develop the ability to forage for food if they need to.
Humans also shouldn’t worry about ducks getting enough food. These birds are more than capable of getting plenty of their own duck-friendly meals, like pond weed, small fish, snails, and insects.
Besides, the glut of bread in ponds, canals, and other bodies of water can cause major trouble for the environment.
For one thing, if there’s too much of it left over, the remaining bread will get moldy, which can poison animals that come to eat it the next day.
It’s also a major temptation for pests like rats, who can come and soil the whole area feasting on leftover duck bread.
Too much bread can also hurt the ecosystem of a pond or stream.
Thankfully, a lot of parks are beginning to warn the public about the dangers of feeding ducks bread.
By heeding these warnings, we can continue to appreciate ducks — without hurting them or their home.
But don’t despair!
While you should never give ducks bread, there are healthy snacks that ducks can enjoy (in moderation)!
You shouldn’t give ducks too much food, as they can feed themselves — but if you want to give them a quick treat, try:
- cracked corn
- barley
- rice
- grapes (cut up)
- peas and corn
- chopped lettuce and veggie trimmings
- earthworms or mealworms
These are all delicious and nutritious treats for ducks, and will keep the creatures and the environment happy and healthy!
Did you know this rule about feeding ducks?
Be sure to help spread the word and Liked Video with anyone who loves wildlife!
